“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:16-18 ESV).
I still remember my mother’s hands.
I have a lot of sweet memories of my mother, but for some reason, when I think of her, it’s her hands that come to mind. She was a beautiful woman. She had a ready smile and sparkling eyes. Her singing voice was one of the purest, most spiritual sopranos I’ve ever known. She was a woman of Christian character and committed to her Lord and to her church. She was a devoted mother and wife. Even after my father died, she cherished his memory and constantly reminded us of what a great man he was.
I could go on and on about my mother, but I always come back to her hands.
I have childhood memories of her touching my forehead with the back of her hand and saying, “Honey, you feel warm to me. We better check your temperature. I think you have a fever.”
I remember her reaching for a washcloth and rubbing it with a bar of Ivory soap before attacking the dirt on my neck and behind my ears. “When’s the last time you washed behind your ears son?” She said while rubbing vigorously.
Sometimes when I smell my wife cooking breakfast, I go into the kitchen to see her stirring the gravy and for a minute I think I see my mother’s hands. My Mom actually taught my wife how to make gravy when we were first married.
I’m sure my mother loved me in her heart. But I knew she loved me because I could see it in her hands.
Isn’t that the way we know that Jesus loves us? He stretched out his hands and “laid down his life for us.” Those beautiful hands were pierced and nailed to a cross to demonstrate the kind of love He has for us. He didn’t just say that He loved us. He showed it. Love is more than a word. It is an action.
And now, we are to have that kind of love in our hearts and in our hands too.